Vote Housing is a national, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy campaign intended to engage Canadians to pledge to vote for housing in the upcoming federal election and ensure all political parties support making bold investments in affordable housing and ending homelessness.
Read their action plan here: Action Plan For Parliament – Vote Housing.
This campaign is led by the Canadian Lived Experience Leadership Network (CLELN), the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, the Canadian Housing & Renewal Association, and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada. These partner organizations represent the three leading national housing and homelessness sector organizations. CLELN is Canada’s leading national network for people who have or are experiencing homelessness.
An endorsement of this campaign will help ensure that all political parties and other Canadians see the breadth of voices calling for change on housing issues.
Financial contributions will go towards organizing efforts in communities across the nation. This ensures that all political parties prioritize housing issues for all communities.
Voting Housing’s volunteer team will be engaging and encouraging Canadians to pledge to Vote Housing. Activities will be organized locally (door knocking, phone calling, events, etc.) as well as virtually to speak up about the importance of ending homelessness and housing need.
This past year and a half has been full of very complex challenges. In conjunction with a once-in-a-century public health crisis, many communities also witnessed an increase in the number of individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness. However, this has also been a great example of our sector coming together and finding viable solutions in a very difficult situation. Working in partnership we are better able to support individuals as they begin to take steps towards breaking the cycle of poverty, and it also creates more capacity for us to provide something most of us have been able to rely on in this crisis – a stable home where we can be healthy, safe and secure.
We are very confident that we can end homelessness in Canada. We have ended homelessness for thousands of people in our own local community, many with complex needs. This work is part of a much bigger effort; no one agency, community, or government can solve this issue alone. This will require a coordinated effort from community partners across the country, and bold investments in affordable housing and ending homelessness from every level of government.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We recognize we are gathered, in collaboration and with joint purpose, on Treaty 6 territory. This territory is the traditional home and gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples. The nêhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux/Ojibwe), Nakota Isga (Nakota Sioux), Inuit, and Métis, among many others cared for this land since time immemorial and continue to steward it today. As visitors in this territory, we honour the importance of the Treaty and our responsibility to these communities. Only in partnership can we create the changes necessary to end homelessness. It is vital we meaningfully engage and partner with Indigenous people and communities in this work while recognizing and addressing the conditions brought forth by colonialism. Displacement from traditional homelands, systemic racism, residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and the ongoing overrepresentation of Indigenous people in child welfare, correctional systems, and homelessness are responsibilities we all share.